University like an incubator
According to the students participating in the research of Dr Małgorzata Dzimińska from the Department of Labour and Social Policy, University of Lodz, an ideal university should be characterised by human-centredness, a high degree of student agency, active teaching and learning methods, as well as flexible studying pathways.
The students’ key expectation from an ideal university is that it will professionally guide their development, acting as kind of a growth incubator. They want to get a rich and individualised university experience that will positively transform them. They appreciate the role of teachers in this process and they turn to them for guidance, support, inspiration and expert knowledge. They look up to them as role models.
The research and English language publication
The synthesis of expectations of Polish students and the model of their dream University have been presented by Dr Dzimińska on the pages of the ‘Journal of Further and Higher Education’ in an article entitled ‘An Ideal University: A Student Growth Incubator’. You can find the article on the open platform of the British academic publisher Taylor & Francis.
The article by Dr Małgorzata Dzimińska
According to the author of the article, students’ opinions concerning their needs and expectations related to higher education are too rarely taken into account, hence, e.g. the research idea. The researcher from the University of Lodz carried it out using focus groups including BA students at one of the largest universities in Poland.
Source: Promotion Centre, University of Lodz